It was a catch-up day today. I woke up really early, so went out to the dining area and got some coffee and lingonberry punch, my new favorite cold drink. I caught up on my blog – I had not done any posting for a few days. Stacy and I had breakfast (no Swedish pancakes this morning, bummer! ) then I dropped her off at the airport for her flight home. I know she wasn’t looking forward to going back to all her responsibilities at home including starting the school year right away. I hope she get some time to rest as I was definitely wiped out after our busy week. We had both commented on how happy we were that we weren’t trying to fit a lot in, but it still ended up being very busy. After I dropped her off, I stopped a few places to enjoy lakes and old buildings, then went to Alingsas to get some coffee. I was feeling pretty tired so decided not to look around, though the cappuccino I got was delicious and strong so that helped wake me up. I decided to check out an old castle run about 20 minutes outside of town. It was a beautiful drive going out there and looks like it would be a wonderful place on a sunny day – lots of picnic areas, playgrounds, beaches, and walks in the forest. It was raining on and off so I had a bit of a look around then hopped back on the road. Just as the weather cleared I found a pull off at the side of a lake where there were a couple of swimming docks that look like they get a lot of action during the summer. It was a good spot to do my journaling and figure out where I wanted to stop before heading to Pia’s later in the afternoon.
I ended up going to the church in Gökhem, I think it was the oldest of the churches I had visited and one that I had wanted to return to. Since I wasn’t in a hurry to get anywhere I sat down in one of the pews and just enjoyed the stillness of this 1000 year-old church. I started to get a bit tired and feeling like I really shouldn’t take a nap in the church, headed out to the car, reclined the seat and closed my eyes. Not 30 seconds later the sky opened up and the rain just poured down! I felt so glad of my timing and grateful to have a warm, dry place to be. After that, I stopped at the local grocery store to get some salad a few more throat lozenges as I’m still battling a cold. Then I spent a little time in the forest where we did our mushroom foraging, I was very happy to be able to reconnect to that place one more time.
Finally I went to Pia‘s house and was greeted very enthusiastically first by Pomona then by both of the cats and once I got inside, by Donnie and Giorgia. It felt good to be back in this place that I had only left eight days before yet it felt like it had been weeks! Giorgia and I had a lovely evening catching up, she’s learning to master a Rubiks cube, how retro! After dinner we played a few fierce rounds of SkipBo, each winning one. I also got some much needed laundry done and updated my blog with pictures. I fell asleep pretty fast when my head hit the pillow.
